The present invention relates to the grounding of printed circuit boards and in particular to a readily-installable plug for grounding a printed circuit board to a chassis or similar structure.
Printed circuit boards (PCB) which are installed in a chassis, cabinet, rack or the like, often are advantageously grounded to (all or part of) a metallic or conductive structure, typically a sheet metal tray or plate which forms all or part of a chassis, cabinet or the like. In many devices, a conductive ground path from the PCB to the tray is by way of a screw coupling, often engaging a tray standoff structure, with such screw coupling typically forming part or all of the mechanical support for the PCB. While such screw coupling can be effective for both grounding purposes and mechanical support purposes, the cost of providing multiple screws, standoffs and the like can be undesirably high. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus, system and method for establishing desired grounding paths which can reduce or avoid at least some of the costs associated with previous approaches.
In addition to the material costs associated with screw-mounting, the time or effort needed for installing screws both in initial fabrication or assembly of an electronic device, and in any later repairs, upgrades and the like, can be undesirably high. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide apparatus, systems and methods which can achieve desired grounding paths relatively rapidly (compared with, e.g., screw mounting). Previous screw-mounting approaches for establishing ground paths are at least partially affected by PCB layouts, e.g., in the location of the screw holes, ground traces or printed wires and the like. Because of the expense involved in redesigning, recertifying, and/or testing of new or modified circuit board configurations, it would be useful to provide improved grounding path apparatus, systems and methods which can be implemented in a fashion compatible with existing circuit boards or other components, e.g., without requiring redesign or modification of existing circuit boards.
According to one aspect, the present invention utilizes a structure which provides a body portion configured to engage existing screw holes, preferably in a simple push-installation fashion, and which provides support for a conductive structure capable of creating an effective ground path from a circuit board to a tray or similar structure. In one aspect, the conductive structure is configured to be resiliently urged or deformed against (in contact with) the tray, e.g., to provide a system establishing a reliable and effective grounding path.
In one aspect, a grounding plug structure configured for push-type snap lock fastening in circuit board screw holes is provided with a resilient deformable conductive member. When a circuit board with one or more such plug structures fastened thereto is mounted with respect to a tray or chassis, the conductive portion of the plug structure is deformed against a surface of the tray, forming an effective conductive pathway, e.g. for grounding, between the tray and the circuit board. In this way, grounding pathways can be established while eliminating the need for at least some screw mounting and/or standoff structures.